What to watch for: Pocono: Johnson Ties Yarborough, Allison/Waltrip Next Up; Bubba Wallace to Make Cup Series Debut; Kyle Busch Seeking First 2017 and First Pocono Wins; Pocono Pole is the Place to Be...At Least in June; Who's Hot and Who's Not.[More](6-8-2017)

Blaney wins at Pocono: #21-Ryan Blaney won the Pocono 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway for his 1st career win. He took the lead from #18-Busch with 9 laps to go and held off #4-Harvick to get the first win for Wood Brothers Racing since Trevor Bayne won the Daytona 500 in 2011.
#4-Harvick finished 2nd followed by #77-Jones (career-best finish), #41-Busch, #2-Keselowski, #78-Truex, Jr., #42-Larson, #24-Elliott, #18-Busch, and #20-Kenseth.
Pole sitter #18-Busch won the first stage and finished 2nd in the second stage. He led a total of 100 laps but did not pit under the final caution and could not hold the lead on older tires. He finished 9th.
#43-Darrell Wallace, Jr., making his Cup debut, was caught speeding on pit road three times during the race. He finished 26th.
The second caution of the day came with 5 laps left in stage 2 when Johnson lost the brakes on his car and made hard contact with the outside wall hard. Behind Johnson, McMurray also lost brakes and slid into the wall. McMurray's car caught fire, but he got out quickly. Both drivers were ok. The race was red flagged for 23 minutes for track cleanup.
#78-Truex Jr. maintains the driver points lead by 1 point over #42-Larson.
Stages 1 & 2 were won by #18-Busch and #42-Larson.
There were 13 lead changes among 9 drivers and 4 cautions for 18 yellow flag laps
The average speed of the race was: 142.292mph.
See unofficial race results, awards, laps led, cautions and more at:Unofficial Race Results (pdf)Cumulative Report (pdf)Penalty Report (pdf)
See OFFICIAL race results & points standings on the Official Race & Points Report (pdf).

Editor's Picks

Dogged by Kevin Harvick for the final eight laps of Sunday's Axalta presents the Pocono 400, Ryan Blaney held off the 2014 series champion in a breathtaking battle to claim the first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory of his career.

MENCS at Pocono (Ryan Blaney wins)
- Ryan Blaney: first career Cup Series win in 68th career race
- Ryan Blaney: joins Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Austin Dillon as first-time winners this season (all in last 5 races)
- First time since 2011 with at least three first-time winners in single season (5 that year)
- Ryan Blaney: father, Dave Blaney, never won in 473 career Cup Series races
- Ryan Blaney: first racer born in 1993 or later to win a Cup Series race
- Wood Brothers Racing's 99th Cup Series win but just 5th win since 1990
- Kevin Harvick: finished 2nd; 9th top 10, T-3rd-most this season (no wins)
- Kyle Busch: finished 9th and led race-high 100 laps; led 703 laps this season and yet to win (2nd most)
- Darrell Wallace Jr.: finished 26th; 8th black driver in known history to run a Cup Series race and 1st since 2006
- Jimmie Johnson: crashed, finished 36th, worst finish of season
- Dale Earnhardt Jr: blown transmission, finished 38th; 6th finish of 30-or-worse this season to go with two top 10s
(ESPN Stats & Info)

Race Fast Facts - Pocono Raceway
Ryan Blaney won the 36th Annual Pocono 400, his first victory in 68 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races.
This is his first victory and fifth top-10 finish in 2017.
This is his first victory and second top-10 finish in three races at Pocono Raceway.
Kevin Harvick (second) posted his 14th top-10 finish in 33 races at Pocono Raceway. It is his ninth top-10 finish in 2017.
Erik Jones (third) posted his first top-10 finish in one race at Pocono Raceway.
Erik Jones (third) was the highest finishing rookie.
Martin Truex Jr. leads the point standings by 1 point over Kyle Larson.
(NASCAR Integrated Sports Marketing)(6-11-2017)

NASCAR Overtime (not called Green-White-Checkered anymore) Race Procedure: NASCAR allows a maximum of three restart attempts prior to the White Flag under NASCAR's Green-White-Checkered flag finish. If the leader has taken the White Flag and the caution flag is displayed, the field is frozen and the race will not be restarted. Previously, there was only one restart attempt. The procedure applies to all three national series. See rule and notes on the NASCAR Overtime rules/news/stats page.

Wave Around: how the wave around rule works: All vehicles between the leader and the caution vehicle at the start/finish line when the "one to go" signal is given by the starter are considered "Wave Around" eligible. "Wave Around" vehicles will not be permitted to enter pit road at any time during this yellow flag/caution period. "Wave Around" vehicles must receive the green flag on the race track before being permitted to enter pit road without a penalty. Vehicles under a penalty and the "Free Pass" vehicle will not be eligible to receive a "Wave Around".

Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the Pocono 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway have been made.
With the field downsized to 40 cars, three pit stalls (41,42,43) have been eliminated, are not in play and don't count towards driving through more than three pit boxes.
Pole sitter #18-Busch chose pit stall 1, the first stall available [as do most pole sitters].
Outside pole sitter #78-Truex, Jr. took pit stall 9, with an opening in front of it.
#20-Kenseth, who starts 3rd, took the 40th and final stall.
To see where the drivers/teams pit stall is, see the pit selection chart on Jayski.com's Pit Stall Selection chart.(6-10-2017)

Kyle Busch wins Pocono pole: #18-Kyle Busch won the Coors Light pole for the Pocono 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway with speed of 179.151mph for his 2nd pole of 2017, 3rd at Pocono and 21st of his career. Busch has won 4 times from the 20 previous poles.
#78-Truex, Jr. will start 2nd followed by #20-Kenseth, #21-Blaney, #41-Busch, #2-Keselowski, #42-Larson, #1-McMurray, #22-Logano, #31-Newman, #95-McDowell and #4-Harvick.
#18-Busch was fastest in the second round with a speed of 178.483mph.
#42-Larson was fastest in the first round with a speed of 178.625mph, will start 7th.
Driver(s) who will miss the race: none as 39 were entered for 40 spots
See round-by-round qualifying results on the Qualifying results page (pdf) and the complete starting lineup on the Starting Lineup page (pdf).(6-9-2017)

With monster lap in final round, Kyle Busch wins Pocono pole: Running his fastest lap of the day in the final round of Friday's knockout qualifying, Kyle Busch won the pole position for Sunday's Axalta presents the Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway by a comfortable margin.[More](6-9-2017)

Pocono Raceway - Qualifying Fast Facts:
Kyle Busch won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 36th Annual Pocono 400 with a lap of 50.237 seconds, 179.151 mph.
This is his 21st pole in 440 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races.
This is his second pole and 12th top-10 start in 2017.
This is his third pole in 25 races at Pocono Raceway.
Martin Truex Jr. (second) posted his 11th top-10 start of 2017 and his fifth in 23 races at Pocono Raceway.
Matt Kenseth (third) posted his 11th top-10 start at Pocono Raceway. It is his ninth in 14 races this season.
Daniel Suarez (14th) was the fastest qualifying rookie.
(NASCAR Statistics)(6-9-2017)

Coverage of Qualifying for the Pocono 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway is scheduled for Friday, June 9, 2017 at 4:15pm/et.
Television (TV): FS1, 4:00pm/et
Radio: Live online at Motor Racing Network (MRN)

Group qualifying under the three-round qualifying format:
• Round 1 -- All entries will have 20 minutes to post a qualifying time, after which the 24 registering the fastest laps will advance to the second round. Those failing to advance will be sorted based on first-round times in descending order (from fastest to slowest).
• Round 2 -- The 24 fastest from the first round will have 10 minutes to post a second-round qualifying time, with the 12 fastest advancing to a third round. Those not advancing will earn starting positions 13 through 24 based on time, again in descending order.
• Round 3 -- The final round will be five minutes in length. The fastest times from this session will determine the first (Coors Light Pole Award) through 12th starting positions.
There will be a seven-minute break between each round; teams may make adjustments to their entries only during the individual breaks. They will not be allowed to jack the vehicle or raise the hood, and once the car or truck enters the garage, it will no longer be permitted to return to the track for additional qualifying attempts.

Qualifying Order for the Pocono 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway is posted.
The first driver to be lined up on pit road will be #48-Johnson.
The final driver lined up on pit road will be #2-Keselowski.
The order is set by a random draw, how cars park on pit road before they qualify, held about an hour before the first practice.
After the first round, the cars lined up by speed.
For the qualifying order, see the Qualifying Order page (pdf).(6-9-2017)

Friday practice for the Pocono 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway is over, after 85 scheduled minutes, the top-five and notes:
#42-Larson 177.312
#18-Busch 1778.235
#20-Kenseth 176.939
#4-Harvick 176.588
#22-Logano 176.564
slowest: #33-Earnhardt 163.735 & #55-Cope 159.920
most laps run: #6-Bayne, 22 laps
Only 2 drivers ran 10 consecutive laps during this practice: #6-Bayne and #51-Ware.
#88-Earnhardt, Jr's transmission stuck in gear early in practice. The team had to change the engine and he will start at the back of the field for Sunday's race.
See fastest speeds, laps run on the Practice 1 Speeds page (pdf)(6-9-2017)

Entry List for the Pocono 400 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway is posted, 39 teams/drivers [for 40 spots] are listed.
36 teams with Charters are guaranteed to make the field. The rest need to make the field via qualifying / qualifying races / rules book (owners attempts/points).
Some of the drivers entered include: #15-Sorenson, #23-Gaulding, #33-JEarnhardt, #43-Bubba Wallace, #51-Ware*, #55-Cope*, #83-LaJoie*
Drivers who currently to not drive for a team with a Charter and need to race into the field: #51-Ware*, #55-Cope*, #83-LaJoie*.
Drivers who would miss the race if qualifying is canceled (least race attempts): none
Since only 39 cars are entered, all drivers will make the race.
See the full entry list on the Entry List (pdf)

How to Calculate Track Speeds: use the formula Speed = Distance divided by Time. Distance is Track Length, and Lap Time into Hours. Once hour is 3600 seconds, so the calculation for a 48 second lap at Daytona(2.5 miles) would be: Speed = 2.5 x (3600/48), = 2.5 x 75 = 187.500mph. For a 19 second lap at Bristol(.533 miles): Speed = .533 x (3600/19), = .533 x 189.474 = a speed of 100.990mph

Storyline - Hybrid Track Requires a Hybrid Solution: Pocono Raceway is one of the most unique tracks on the NASCAR circuit. It has three distinct corners, each one based on a different race track - Turn 1 on the former Trenton Speedway, Turn 2 on Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Turn 3 on The Milwaukee Mile. The challenge that stands out for Goodyear is that the track is high speed, but is also relatively flat. Goodyear's tire set-up for Pocono features a left-side tire that helps the cars with grip, while the right-side tire features a hybrid construction with some characteristics of a short track tire (grip) and a speedway tire (durability). Goodyear held a tire test at Pocono for the 2016 season, and this tire set-up came out of that session.

Notes: Teams in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series will run the same tire set-up at Pocono this weekend . . . this is the same combination of left- and right-side tires Cup teams ran twice at Pocono last season . . . Xfinity teams ran a different tire set-up at Pocono in 2016 . . . for Xfinity teams, compared to what was run last year, this left-side tire code (D-4708) features a compound change for more grip, while this right-side tire code (D-4710) has an increase in tread gage (thickness) to align with what is run in Cup . . . teams in both of these series also ran this right-side tire at Indianapolis last year, and will again this July . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams are required to run inner liners on all four tire positions at Pocono . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.